Incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kaladze urges voters to participate in run-offs to ‘end UNM’

Incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who will run in the second round of municipal elections on October 30 against the United National Movement (UNM) opposition head Nika Melia, has called on voters to actively participate in mayoral and majoritarian runoffs in 20 of 64 election constituencies ‘to put an end to the Bolshevism, the evil, the hatred, and the lies that are embodied by the UNM in this country once and for all.’ 

 

“The victory of 2 October needs to be seen through to the end! And the vote cast by every voter is decisive in this case,” Kaladze said. 

 

He stated that over the past two months, he presented a detailed report to the residents of Tbilisi on what he has done for the city during the past four years and what he plans to do in the next four years.

 

“During this time, I, my spouse, my parents, and perhaps most unfortunately, my young children have become the targets of an unprecedented campaign of aggression, hate, and lies,” he said. 

 

Kaladze stated that despite this he decided to run a European-style, future-oriented election campaign which, rather than being aimed at presenting the opponents’ shortcomings and flaws, was aimed at offering the ‘most sophisticated and well-thought-out city development plan’ to the residents of Tbilisi.

 

“We have offered the residents of Tbilisi a detailed election program and a number of large-scale projects which, I believe, will make Tbilisi an even more developed, European, beautiful, green, and attractive city, and bring more life to every district of Tbilisi,” Kaladze said, noting that the UNM was engaged only in staging provocations. 

 

He stated that ‘unfortunately, even today we (the ruling party) had to remind everyone once again of the ‘violations of citizens’ dignity, the violence, the terror, the seizure of property, the murder of innocent young people, the trampling of the freedom of speech, the crackdown on the media, the cynicism, the lies, and the racketeering that used to take place’ under the United National Movement government.